APRS fun...
Here is the report I got from the buoy recovery crew...
looks like we got lucky... Its a harsh environment out there.... Our Tiny/Microtrak buoy was sent out with 3 other high cost commercial buoys (with ARGOS satellite trackers)...
All deployed about 1000 EDT on the 4th. See my report at end.
> Well it looks like the drifter you made is
> pretty darn good. Here's the luck with ours:
>> #1 stopped talking at 0900 EDT- August 4th.
> Lost. Likely hit by a motorboat. Unfortunately
> with no buoyancy near the elctronics, losing a
> sail or float means losing the drifter. We
> couldn't find any trace of it this morning.
>> #2 Aground right across the Severn from the
> lab. Stopped "talking" at 1800 August 5th.
>> #3 Still "talking" but had a 2-hr old fix when we
> left the pier and couldn't reach anyone at ARGOS
> by phone for an update. We'll try to get it
> tomorrow. It's probably out somewhere near the Bay
> Bridge, so I hope the winds shift.
>> APRS BUOY-4- except for the fact it was a little
> hard to spot, the 10-minute transmissions with the
> D7 radio and AVMAP gps gadget made it really easy
> to find on the water. To purchase a GONIO RDF
> for our drifters would be ~40K.
Here was my report since I had to travel to Alabama on short notice:
>> Im sitting here in the breakfast room of my
>> parents nursing room in Alabama and watching
>> the receovery there in Maryand on FINDU.COM.
>> I see you picked up buoy-4 between 1000 and 1010.
>> THen I could see you move around the area
>> searching for the other buoys...
>> Kinda neat from 800 miles away!
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/track.cgi?call=BUOY-4&degree=.07
Bob, Wb4APR